The blower/vacuums are well known in lawn and garden implement which are used for blowing or picking up various debris, such as leaves and grass clippings. A typical blower/vacuum in suction mode comprises a housing that encloses an electric motor having a rotatable shaft on which is connected a fan placed in a housing. During the rotation of the motor, the fan mounted on the shaft rotates and creates a suction which draws the leaves and other lawn debris into the fan inlet where they are shredded and then ejected from the fan outlet. A handle is provided on the housing to allow the user to hold and direct the inlet of the blower/vacuum. In the mode normally used, the blower/vacuum rejects debris in a small collection bag coupled directly to the fan outlet of the blower/vacuum. The user wears on his shoulder the debris collection bag with a belt attached to the bag. The weight of the debris that accumulates in the bag creates in time some fatigue at the user. When the collection bag is full, the user disconnects the collection bag from the fan outlet of the blower/vacuum, unzips a zipper provided in the bag, and then dumps the debris out of the bags into a larger disposable bag to collect debris, a trash can or a place for decomposing debris. The user can then close the collection bag with the zipper, connects it to the blower/vacuum and continue to collect debris. This type of debris collection bag, although effective for collecting small amounts of debris, quickly becomes limiting for the collection of large amounts of debris. It must frequently be emptied what becomes tedious and slows significantly the work of the user. In addition to the weight of the bag and debris, the bag being suspended from the user's body, the dust emitted by the air output through the bag pores can be annoying to users.
Other debris collection systems were invented to correct problems of the conventional system described above. U.S. Pat. No. 7,506,403 B2 has a collection bag in a cart with wheels, the bag must be emptied when full and the system is designed for one type of bag. The user also has the disadvantage to pull a wagon wheel with the bag of debris. U.S. Pat. No. 7,587,785 B2, the user wears on his back the receptacle to collect the debris and debris must be emptied in a bag for disposal. For the U.S. Pat. No. 6,988,293 B2, leaves are collected directly in a bag with slots to the air outlet, the bag is disposable which eliminates the need to pour the debris and the bag is designed specifically for the system. The bag is attached to the blower/vacuum and the weight of the bag and debris is carried by the user. It is not possible to use a wide variety of bags to collect debris which limits the choice of supplier. The bag is of small dimensions compared to the collection bag for lawn debris. For U.S. Pats. No. 7,962,996 B1, 7,917,992 B2 and 7,752,706 B2, the debris is collected in a large collection bag inserted into a large solid container mounted on a cart. The cart can be moved and carries the weight of debris. This system is relatively heavy and large. It can be cumbersome to move over rough terrain. The user must move the cart as the work progresses. For U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,257,858 B2, 6,574,829 B1 and 4,713,858, the debris collection system is maintained by a support frame made of metal or a metal container. Debris is collected in a large bag. These systems are fixed and the leaves must be near the system to be collected. The user cannot easily move the system in use. For U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,341,612 B2, 7,185,389 B2 and 4,723,971, the debris is sucked into a small bag or into a rigid container without being shredded first requiring much more space for storage. In addition, the materials must be small as dust or sawdust, and it is little suitable for collection of whole leaves. The system moves on casters or wheels which can pose a problem when the ground is uneven. A single bag model can be used.
Accordingly, it is necessary in the art of collecting debris to have a debris collection system allowing both the user mobility and the collection of large amounts of debris without having to pour debris in another bag or requiring the user to carry the bag of debris. Similarly, it is also necessary to have a versatile system that can use a wide variety of bags sold by different companies for the collection of debris to reduce the cost of buying bags and therefore storage costs of debris.
In the art of debris collection, the debris is usually kept in bags placed in metal containers or plastic which is covered with a lid to prevent odors or protect them from weather. These lids are often round in shape and slightly curved. These lids are designed to be watertight and airtight for the needs they are intended. One of these types of lid has a groove on the side wall. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,691,840, 5,163,577, 5,085,340, 5,160,060, U.S. Des. 326,342 and CA 2542229 refer to this type of lid. The company Rubbermaid Canada, Mississauga, Ontario, sells this type of container with lid for collecting debris. These lids do not have a top opening, which removes the possibility of inserting debris into containers or bags inside the containers other than removing the container lid.
Accordingly, as this type of lid round in shape and having both a groove on the side wall, openings for the air outlet and an opening for the discharge of lawn debris directly into a collecting bag using a blower/vacuum in suction mode, does not exist, Laliberté, W. and D. Laliberté, 2011, in the patent application CA 2,748,583 (U.S. Ser. No. 13/539,322), have invented a type of lid adapted to this need. They also presented the possible modifications to existing lids using their invention to allow their use with the collection system described in their patent application. For a good understanding of the present patent application and its usefulness, the authors recommend first checking the patent application CA 2,748,583 (U.S. Ser. No. 13/539,322).
The type of lid stated in the patent application CA 2,748,583 (U.S. Ser. No. 13/539,322) from Laliberté, W. and D. Laliberté, 2011, with a groove on the side to hold the bag up around the lid with a bungee cord, although very effective, application technique molding plastics is more expensive than the manufacturing technical plastic injection. Indeed, the presence of the groove on the side does not allow the use of the technique of injection molding, which is better suited for producing large quantities with the lowest costs per lid.
This is to reduce production costs inherent in this type of lid that a new type of lid without groove, but with a curved edge to the outside, was designed to be manufactured by plastic injection molding. This type of lid is described in patent application CA 2,764,509 (U.S. Ser. No. 13/555,147) from Laliberté, W. and D. Laliberté, 2012.
However, in this type of lid the different elements are attached to the lid with flexible cable ties which require a relatively long manual assembly. In order to reduce production costs of this type of lid, modifications have been made to create a new type of lid. The modifications allow the lid to mold simultaneously with the air outlets (that have a domed top), a handle, hooks to hold strainers, a hook to hold the elbow to the entrance of debris, the elevations on the outer wall to hold the elastic cord. Also the two 45 degree elbows used for the entrance of debris have been replaced by a 90 degree elbow with an elevation around the female part.
Changes are also made to the lid from the patent application CA 2,764,509 (U.S. Ser. No. 13/555,147) from Laliberté, W. and D. Laliberté, 2012, by adding a new type of elbow to deflect the air, a new kind of elevations glued on the wall between band sections of anti-skid tape, by using a 90 degree elbow at the entrance of debris and by using a new type of fastener for holding the strainers. These modifications are intended to facilitate the assembly of various components onto the lid and to improve appearance.